Project Monster Reborn
by VictorOfDuels97
Summary: Josh Greene is an skilled but unlucky duelist, until the day a mysterious man gives him an incredible deck, but who is the Hooded Duelist? And what is Project Monster Reborn?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first work of Fan Fiction I'm actually publishing, I do must of my stuff just for my own amusement but I thought it might be fun to see what other people thought; any and all advice on how to make it better is welcome.

Chapter One: The Melee and the Beginning

The Melee of Champions, a legendary event in the Duel Monsters world. The rules were similar to the original game, but there was no set field. Players were eliminated when their LP hit zero, but they didn't have to duel any specific opponent, and they could run from an opponent in hopes of coming back with a better hand later, draws were done every five minutes instead of alternating turns, as a result. The field was in a huge forest, private property of some Industrial Illusions Board-Member, and over a hundred duelists would be participating. One such Duelist was Joshua Greene, also known as the Heavy-Hitter. His technique was basically super-charged monsters with equip spells and a few traps, not normally a good dueling style, but perfect in a melee.

Josh smiled as he eliminated yet another duelist. His Vorse Raider, which was equipped with two Axe of Despair Cards and a Dual Swords of Flashing Light Trice card, had been destroying opponents for a while now, he also had a Luster Dragon and an Alligator's Sword. When the duelist he had just defeated was picked up by a jeep and driven away, a voice spoke into the piece on his ear.

"In a heavily forested area to your left, the six remaining duelists are fighting."

He smiled and made his way to the afore-mentioned woodland area, drawing two more cards in the seven or eight minutes it took him to arrive there.

He saw four of the duelists of to one side, clearly defeated, while the last two were duking it out. One of them had a Marshmallon in defense position, and was dealing fairly large amounts of damage with cards like Meteor of Destruction, Ookazi, and Sparks. The other duelist however, a tall boy dressed in a long coat and wearing a hood that effectively hid his face, had a monster that Josh had never seen before.

It was the Five Headed Dragon, a monster with 5000 attack and defense, possibly the most powerful fusion monster ever. Josh looked at his hand. Fairy Meteor Crush was there. He played it, equipping it to the enemy's dragon.

The hooded boy attacked Marshmallon, and dropped the other duelist's LifePoints down to 0 in an impressive attack called Five Element Storm, then turned to Josh.

"Thank you, but why help me?"

"I don't like people who 'duel' that way." Josh said, smiling.

"I appreciate that, but I also attack your Alligator's Sword with my Dragon!"

Alligator's sword was destroyed, but Josh sacrificed a Kuriboh from his hand to negate damage.

Then he played Change of Heart.

Right before Josh declared his attack, the boy said, "The Cameras can't see us."

"What?"

"We only have a few minutes to talk, so listen, I need you to take my deck, okay?"

Josh repeated his previous question, somewhat louder.

"I know it's kind of weird but I need you," he paused, taking all of his cards out of his duel disk and shuffling them, before holding them out to Josh, "to take these. The penalty for losing here is your deck, it's a way for Industrial Illusions to get back foil cards, hike up rarity and prices and what-not, but that doesn't matter, what matters is they can't get their hands on this deck, and I just lost!"

Josh reached out, taking the cards, "But why me?"

"You beat me, and did so more than honorably. Another thing; you muster never tell anyone where you got the strongest card in that deck, ever, and try to use it as little as possible, I came here to find someone worthy of it, to hide it, and that someone is you!"

Josh numbly slid the deck into his deep pocket and watched as all the defeated duelists were driven a kind of minibus which had appeared soon after he received the deck. He himself was escorted away by helicopter, to a stage where he accepted a two-hundred thousand dollar gift-certificate for all Industrial Illusions products or services, a hand-shake from Maximillion Pegasus himself, and a unique monster called Melee Champion, a lvl 7 warrior monster which had 2800 attack and could attack an opponents LP directly.

On the train ride home he flipped through the deck, looking at an amazing series of fairly simple combinations and very powerful monsters. He saw the 'strongest card' right away, and knew why the hooded boy had asked it be kept secret. The Egyptian God Card, Winged Dragon of Ra, said to be strongest of the three, formerly property of the King of Games, Yuugi Muto. Rumors had it he had hidden where no one could find it right before retiring, other rumors said someone called 'The Pharaoh' had trapped it in the Shadow Realm, some said it was encased in stone; but here it was, in his hand.

He wondered who the hooded duelist was.

"You managed to plant the deck with a worthy candidate?"

"Yes, Master Kaiba."

"Good, I wouldn't appreciate if the Blue-Eyes reprints got in the hands of just anyone. Begin monitoring the subject immediately, its time to initiate operation Monster Reborn."

End of Chapter One

It's a bit on the short side, I don't really like that, but otherwise its alright, I thought.

-Thanks for Reading, will update soon,

Victor97


	2. Chapter 2

I'm using the LP system from Dueling Network, by the way, I'm not up to date on the anime or anything (last time I checked GX had it 4000), but for the purpose of the story 8000 seems to work, so I'm leaving it at that...

Chapter Two: Exhibition Match

_He stood before the altar to himself, feeling a vague irony he was capable of only when bearing the skin of his human form._

_His light silk robes glimmered in the light given off by his body, which even when mortal could not fully contain his energy. He was Ra-Amon, God of the Sun and Lord of Egypt._

_Footsteps came from the hall, their urgent patter signaling some kind of disturbance. He was not surprised, after all the Pharaoh's Son was born this day, and Ra was to be one of his Guardians._

_For a moment he sensed a presence, watching but separate, disconnected yet firmly attached._

_Ra-Amon in the body of his host turned, golden eyes boring holes through the universe as they searched for the phantom that watched him._

_Then he saw who was watching, and understood. For a brief moment all was clear, and he smiled, as Gods do when looking upon the foibles of men, before giving a small push of his energy and launching phantom back to his own place, his own time._

Josh gasped awake. For a few moments he tried to recall his dream, but it dissipated with the shrill cries of his alarm clock.

He got up, trudged to his bathroom, and took a shower. Then, he dried off, trudged back to his room in a towel, and began to mechanically get dressed, eyes dull with a need for more rest.

In the two years since the Melee, he had become a big name in American Duel Monsters, and the life of a celebrity was ridiculously hard, especially people were constantly challenging him, and any number of social events kept eating to his free time, and a lot of his school time too, which meant staying up late for study sessions with younger brother, the Math Wiz, and which also meant he wasn't sleeping as much as he should, which meant….

That line of thought continued for some time as tossed his duel-disk into his bag and a his deck into the case on his belt. He fingered his medallion, a coin bearing a likeness of Ra, which he kept around his neck at all times.

His mom called from the hall, "Josh, finish up getting ready, breakfast if getting cold!"

He tossed his bag over his shoulder, checked his pockets to make sure he had his keys and his wallet and everything, then ran down the stairs, noshing down some waffles before running out the door at full speed. He caught the bus to town, just in time, and chatted happily with the driver on the way to his exhibition match with junior dueling champion, Alex something-or-other, who used a vicious defensive monsters and effect damage combination, exactly the opposite of what Josh considered 'real dueling'.

He got off the ceremonial arena, answered some questions from some press outside, then moved to the stadium, where he shook hands with the younger duelist and took his place on the left side of the field. The referee flipped a coin, and the boy won the toss, allowing him to start first.

"I set two cards face down, and set one monster in face down defense position!" he declared timidly, before ending his turn.

Josh drew a card, then looked at his hand. Montage Dragon, Luster Dragon, Delta Flyer, Divine Dragon Ragnarok, Luster Dragon #2, and last but not least, White Stone of Legend, monsters all.

He sent Luster Dragon #2, Luster Dragon, and White Stone of Legend to the graveyard, in order to Special Summon Montage Dragon with 3600 attack points. He activated White Stone's effect, taking a Blue-Eyes White Dragon from his deck and then shuffling. He attacked with montage, destroying the junior champ's face down Kuriboh. He then ended his turn, smiling a bit at the wild cheer that went through the crowd.

The kid made his next move, activating his face-down spell Meteor of Destruction, then setting another face-down monster.

Josh rolled his eyes; he didn't like this one, at all.

He drew another card; Ancient Rules, and grinned. Summoning Blue-Eyes with ancient rules, he attacked the face-down monster, mind turning to other things as he predicted an easy end to the duel. Unfortunately, the face-down card was a Yomi Ship, and Blue-Eyes was destroyed, still Montage attacked-only to be destroyed be a Sakaretsu Armor trap.

The Junior Champion laughed gleefully as he summoned a Celtic Guardian to the field and equipped it with the face-down Black Pendant, dealing 1900 damage to Josh's Life Points and then ending his turn.

Josh drew his card. Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon. He smiled, summoned Delta Flyer, and banished it in order to summon his favorite card. He activated its effect to summon Blue-Eyes back onto the field.

He unleashed White Lightning on Celtic, followed by a direct Darkness Metal Flare, leaving the junior champion's LP at 4100, and Josh virtually unscathed (though Black Pendant had dealt him 500 damage when destroyed).

"I draw a card, then set two face down!" the younger duelist cried, waving his hands dramatically. _He must have a really good hand, _Josh mused, smiling as he drew another card. Pot of Greed!

He played it, smiling even wider as he drew United We Stand and Mystical Space typhoon; but he was nowhere near done yet. He summoned Ragnarok, then used Red-Eyes effect to summon Luster Dragon #2. He was officially in over-kill mode.

He use Space Typhoon destroy one of the face-down cards, Axe of Despair, then equipped United We Stand to Red Eyes.

He attacked with Ragnarok, first, dropping the opponent's LP to 2600. He followed up with a Supreme Emerald Rain attack from Luster, and finally, tied things off with his Partner card, Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon; he struck with Darkness Metal Flare, ending the duel swiftly and theatrically.

He moved over, shook the junior champ's hand, then left the arena, waving to the crowd all the while. It was good to be the Champion.

Kaiba sat down at the conference table haughtily, staring Pegasus straight in the eye.

"Why did you ask me here?"

"Come, come, Kaiba-boy, can't an old friend send an ominous message to in the dead of night to someone whose brother he kidnapped?" Maximillion Pegasus, circled his left hand in the air lazily, given Kaiba one of his patented passive-aggressive smiles.

"Not if he doesn't want to lose his other eye; why did you call me here?" Kaiba was practically growling.

"I just wanted to catch up, you, know, ask about how your little project is going?"

Kaiba twitched, "What project?"

"Please, Kaiba-boy, the Egyptian Gods, the Wicked Gods, and the Sacred Beasts, all appropriated by employees of KaibaCorp within weeks of each other before completely vanishing off the radar? I barely needed the Millennium Eye to see Ra in that boy's pocket! My question is, what are you planning?"

"It isn't relevant to you; my motives aren't selfish, in this one instance, and I2 won't be hurt by my actions."

Pegasus stared for a moment, his Millennium Eye peeking out from behind long silver hair.

"I know you're reading my mind right now, so I'd appreciate it if you could just keep the information there to yourself…if only to keep Yuugi from getting his hopes up."

Pegasus began to laugh, "Kaiba, your heart is in the right place, but what you've done is incredibly dangerous, nay, monumentally dangerous! And not just to the young duelists who received the cards!"

Kaiba stared at the deranged but seemingly friendly toy-maker.

"Okay fine, I'll let your little trial go on for now, but only if I get front row seats to the final event!"

Kaiba frowned a bit, but his answer came fast. "Done."

He got up and left the room, frowning growing deeper as he did so. Pegasus was plotting something, and the heavens only knew what.

END OF CHAPTER TWO!

This one also seems short, T_T

But then I decided you'd rather read through something short and bad than something long and bad, so….

-Let me know what you think, as always!

-Victor out.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, just to clarify, all the god/sacred beast/wicked god cards that will be showing up are based on the actual cards, because you know, I never REALLY followed the Anime, and its easier for the story and whatnot, though I may mention that Ra isn't the original card containing the Sun-Gods spirit…probably not though.

I know I left out a bunch of really strong monsters, all lvl 10, besides the 9 so far…some might come up, but I think probably not

Chapter Three: The Wicked Dreadroot

"Prepare to begin Final Countdown stage of Operation Monster Reborn." Kaiba declared to the his nine 'special employees'. The Hooded Duelist was among them, though all of their faces were concealed one way or another.

"Yes Master Kaiba!" they replied, in unison, before filing out of the room.

He shook his head as he left, taking an executive elevator to the staff apartments, where returned to his room to prepare for departure.

His name once, had been Rex Raptor, but years of sickening humiliation at the hands of 'dueling legend' Joey Wheeler, as well as losing his soul twice, had much humbled the young KaibaCorp agent, to the point where he had changed his name to avoid recognition (though the moniker Jonathan James was thought by many to be a bit unimaginative).

He had even managed to become a proficient duelist.

His official job at KaibaCorp was Spokesman to I2, the companies were so closely related, they basically had to consult each other on everything, and it was Rex's job to make sure things went smoothly. Of course, there were twenty other people who did this 'with' him, so he rarely ever did interact with I2.

As the private agent codenamed Hooded Duelist, he had performed acts of corporate espionage, the 'acquiring' of certain cards so that reprint packs would be more valuable, and things like that. Until two years ago. For two years now, since secretly giving Josh Greene the Perfected Dragon Master deck, he had done nothing but monitor the boy until such time as he was ready to begin using his God Card. That time had come three months ago, (Josh was in fact the second of the nine duelists to perfect his dueling) and then it had been a matter of waiting until the other seven were ready. That time was now.

He boarded a private jet to New York in his business uniform-it was less conspicuous than his hood and cape-and, when he reached the Big Apple, took a train to Boston, then rode the Red Line to the town of Braintree. At the station, he ducked into a bathroom, changing into his Hooded Duelist Uniform and then beginning the short walk to Joshua Greene's home.

He stopped in front of it, placing a call to his operatives in the area on his earpiece, to confirm that Joshua was indeed home. A moment later one of his aides replied with an affirmative, and he went to the door, knocking four times, hard.

Josh opened the door, and blanched when he saw who it was.

"You came for the cards." he said, flatly, as he invited Rex in.

"No. I have some information for you."

Josh nodded, offering him a seat in the living room and then taking one himself.

Rex sighed as he sat on the comfortable sofa.

"Okay…what did you need to tell me?"

"I lied about the deck penalty at the Melee, of course…did you even bother to check?" -Josh looked at the ground, cheeks reddening-"the whole purpose of my story was to find a worthy duelist, for the Ra card…I got lucky with you, I think, you've fully mastered the Dragon Deck, and it's time for you to use Ra in combat."

"Okay…but why? Why give such rare cards-especially Ra-to me at all?"

"Project Monster Reborn." Rex replied, speaking in the kind of whisper used when saying "life on another planet has been found", or, "these tacos are DIVINE".

"What is that?"

"A secret Kaiba Corp initiative. We tracked down the nine strongest cards, the Deities of Dueling, so to speak; the Egyptian Gods, the Sacred Beasts…even the Wicked Gods."

"Yeah. That doesn't answer my question."

"In the hands of the right duelists, these cards could awaken monumental power. We need that."

"For what…or Whom?" Josh queried, leaning in to hear the answer.

"Have you ever heard of the Millennium Puzzle?"

"Yes. The most credible of gossip states that it contained an ancient spirit which taught Yuugi Muto how to master dueling."

"Not a complete fiction as it were."

Josh leaned back, face turning even paler than when he had answered the door. "Continue." he said, almost whispering.

"Well, that spirit did exist, his name was Atem, and, to make a long story short, he died. This is, of course, a relative term; his spirit was passed on. Either way, Master Kaiba, as favor to the King of Games, plans to resurrect the spirit…unfortunately, it is harder to bring back the dead than one might think."

Josh snorted.

Rex smiled, "I know that sounds, but the point is, with the power of the nine cards, we believe we can get past the Gate Guardian…"

"The Gate Guardian is another monster, I thought…"

"Oh yes he is," Rex said, cheerfully, "but their's also only one copy of him, and you'll never guess who uses it?"

"Who?"

"The dueling spirit we call the Gravekeeper."

"Oh, let me guess, he guards the gates to the afterlife?"

"Pretty much."

"So…when exactly is this going to happen?"

"Well, there are problems. Only five of the nine duelists turned out to be the kind of people who would help us out with out benefit to themselves, while of the other four, one is outright insane, and the other three seem to have found each-other and formed some kind of evil gang."

Josh stared at where he thought the Hooded Man's eyes must be, "So you're telling me that four duelists bearing Deity-Class cards have gone rogue, and we need to…do what, exactly?"

"Catch them, beat them, take their cards, and go to the gates of hell…"

Josh looked at the ceiling, "Some days I wish I hadn't woken up…"

Rex smiled, stood, and took a folder from under his cloak. Handing it to Josh, he informed him of the contents, "Your first target, goes by the name of Lore, a card thief and a real bastard, pardon the language. Transportation is covered by KaibaCorp."

Josh stood, putting the folder down on the coffee table. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"Not unless you want to be hunted too."

"Okay."

Rex stood up, shook Josh's hand, and made for the door.

"I recognize your voice, by the way," Rex froze, "I always thought you were a very unappreciated duelist."

Rex nodded, then left.

Lore stood on the edge of the ravine, smiling as he looked down at the mind of duel disks, runners and even scattered cards far below him. That was where the loser's stuff went. Behind him, a phantom appeared, one only he could see.

YOU'VE DONE WELL AGAIN, MY CHILD.

"Thank you, Father."

OF COURSE…BUT I HAVE SENSED A PRESENCE, ONE SUCH AS ME APPROACHETH, INTENT ON OUR DEMISE….

"He will be ended, of course."

OF COURSE, I AM, AFTER ALL, LORD DREADROOT.

Dex leaned back in his office chair, musing over the things that the Masked Duelist had told him. She was a forceful kind of person, and, from what she had said, it seemed he should be helping track down this 'Sigma' duelist group, as well as their deity cards…

Didn't matter, Dex could count, and he knew four enemies meant four allies…he briefly wondered about the other cards that could be described as 'god-like', such as Darkness Neosphere. He dismissed the thought; KaibaCorp knew what it was doing no doubt.

Dex and his Slifer would do as they were told…

END OF CHAPTER THAREEE!

I thought this was fun….of course it probably only came out as awesome to me because I was listening to youtubes two steps from hell mix while writing, haha!

Let me know what you think as always.

-97VD

Also thanks to iloveyugiohGX93 for reviewing!


	4. Chapter 4

With regards to the time of story…well there are synchro summons, I guess, and obviously its after Yami Yuugi got poofed away so…It doesn't really matter, I guess.

Anyhoo, I don't plan for Josh to keep winning, at all, but when he does lose, it's going to happen harsh, like, he's going to be shattered.

Also, sorry about the wait, I kind of got distracted trying to break my losering streak on DN… :x we shall not speak on it.

Chapter Four: Giant Flying Eyeball With Claws

_Ra floated above the city in his physical dragon form, a wave of fiery energy blasting out in all directions as he roared his defiance._

_From the sky in the east, a shape appeared._

_A huge black orb absorbing all light in its immediate vicinity, moving steadily towards the city._

_Behind Ra, Obelisk and Slifer appeared, drawing up their energy in preparation to attack._

_From above, there came a cry._

_A dragon, reminiscent of Slifer but more humanoid in physique, came descending upon the three gods._

_Slifer himself flew up to meet it, second mouth opening to let loose a burst of energy._

_The other dragon dodged, plummeting downward to wrap itself around Slifer gripping with powerful arms, and so began Slifer's battle with the Eraser._

_Ra and Obelisk flew towards the monster on the horizon, who they knew to be the Wicked Avatar._

_Obelisk attacked the Avatar with his legendary Fist of Fate, only to have Avatar rebuff it with a wall of shadowy energy._

_Ra didn't even bother to channel his energy into an attack, he merely blasted full power at the shield until eventually it crumbled under white-hot onslaught._

_Ra continued to fight with Avatar, while Obelisk moved past them, engaging the Wicked Dreadroot._

_Down below, near the center of the city, Atem stood upon the altar to the gods, hands upraised as he offered them his energy in the fight against the Wicked Ones._

_To the east, another man stood, in a similar pose, a dark aura permeating about him as he bent the Wicked Gods to his will._

_The battle would be long, but Ra could sense victory._

Dex closed his eyes as the train swayed into motion. He couldn't stand motor vehicles. Flying was okay, for the most part, but a train was the most convenient way to get to Paris from his father's home in Lyon, (he was unwilling to be driven by the near-blind chauffeur, Ansel), and the Masked Duelist had told him of not one but two Sigma operatives in the City of Lights. He heard a voice whisper at the back of his head. _This is a bad idea, even for you, as a being of some billion years of age, I advise that the entire situation is left alone._

[Are you chicken?] Dex thought at Slifer.

_NO!_

He almost fell from his chair under the weight of the mental blast, and the motion of the train wasn't really helping.

[Okay then,] he thought, [let's get to it.]

-LineBreak-

Josh groaned as the greyhound pulled laboriously through Arizona, on its way to some small town whose name he had completely forgotten after hours of dull boredom. He rifled through his deck a few more times, every time he saw Ra, he paused, smiling to himself.

For a while he was on the phone with his mother, then his father, then his younger brother, and then he took numerous calls from various famed duelists challenging him; he pretty much canceled every event he had for the next month, as it seemed the whole "Operation Monster Reborn" thing was going to take up a bit of his time.

When he finally reached his destination, a tiny town with a population of about 100, with one surprisingly well-kept motel, he immediately began asking after the 'Bandit Duelist', which was the nom-de-plume of the target that the Hooded Duelist had given him.

He got stoney stares, a couple of people just flat out walked away from him.

Finally, a young boy proved brave enough to tell him that the 'Bandit' lived in a cave set into the larger of the two nearby rock formations.

Josh stayed at the motel for the night, had a large breakfast, bought some water and trail mix at the gift shop, and began the mile and half walk, setting a leisurely pace.

Thirty minutes later, he reached the large rocky outcroppings, and saw the blanket hanging over the cave entrance that the boy had told him to look for.

He took his duel-disk from his backpack and put it on, sliding his deck into it, doing his best to seem nonchalant.

-LineBreak-

From his perch between two rocks, a bit to the left of the entrance to his caves, Lore could see the intruder. He twitched, as preparing to leap from his position and attack the Ra Master.

HOLD A MOMENT, LET'S SEE IF HE GOES NEAR THE CREVICE.

"Why?" Lore asked, frowning.

THE WINGED DRAGON IS A FORCE I WOULD RATHER NOT RECKON WITH, PUSHING HIS HOST OFF A STEEP EDGE IS PREFERABLE TO ENGAGING HIM.

Lore frowned deeper, "No fun!" he pouted.

WAIT AND SEE, HE MIGHT NOT.

-LineBreak-

Josh didn't want to immediately go for the caves; the last thing he needed was to be ambushed by some crazy kid living alone in the desert. He decided to walk around the rock formation, checking for a back entrance. He came to the ravine a few moments later, eyes narrowing as he saw the cards, duel-disks, and even two or three runners scattered around at the bottom, maybe fifteen or twenty feet below. Then, out of nowhere, he heard a roar.

He swiveled, only to see a huge eyeball with claws and wings come barreling towards him. Instinctively he took a step back, before realizing two things; the monster was projection of the Meda-Bat monster card, and he was right on the edge of the ravine!

He fell, cursing briefly before blacking out as he hit the ground.

THE END OF CHAPTER FOUR

(duh-duh-duh)

Once more, sorry for the wait (''^_^)

NExt chapter soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Newest chapter is here. Whoo! *unenthusiastic* Hope you like it.

Chapter Five: Heart of the Cards

Josh opened his eyes, groaning at the pain in his back. He was in a cave, on something soft, under something warm. He immediately tried to get up, only to cry out as pain ripped through his left shoulder.

"Too early for you to get up, I think." a voice said, from the back of the cave.

He tried to turn, but could not see who was talking.

A teenager, about his age, in ragged indiana jones style clothing walked towards him, a wry smile on his face.

"You took a nasty fall, my friend, but I'm glad you did; your cry woke us up."

Josh stared hard at him, "What?"

"You'll see in a while, but I think you need more rest."

Even as Josh protested, his eyes began to droop, and he was asleep in a moment.

-LineBreak-

Dex sat cross-legged on the floor of his room at the B&B, Slifer placed on the ground in front of him, and all his cards laid out at his sides, spells and traps on the left, monsters on the right.

A small image of Slifer appeared above the card, and the spirit seemed disgruntled, more so than usual.

The miniature dragon-god writhed in the air before his host, shooting small jets of energy from its mouth.

"What's wrong?" Dex asked, pretty sure he wasn't going to like the answer.

"The balance is shifted, something-multiple somethings-are walking the earth in forms more corporeal than they should have…"

Dex rolled his eyes dramatically, smiling wryly; "A straight answer from you; of course not!"

"Silence, Host or no, insolence from you at this point is unacceptable, we must be as one to ensure our survival."

The duelist narrowed his eyes, "You're scared of something."

"NO!"

"Oh man, you're terrified of something!"

Slifer's image did a cartwheel, blasting energy off in all directions.

"What is it?"

"Something has awoken, in a desert far from here, fate's wheels are turning and she doesn't seem to be on our side as much as she was in olden times…"

"That means…?"

"I have no idea, its just a feeling I have."

Dex's frown deepened, "Our best course of action would be?"

"Gather the other two cards, immediately, we'll need as many of the other Great Ones on our side as we can manage."

"Brilliant."

-LineBreak-

Josh sat up; his back was sore, but much better than it had been before.

For a moment, he was sure he was alone, but after a few seconds he heard footsteps, fast approaching, followed by a voice, "Oh good, you're finally up!"

"Yeah." Josh said, smiling as he turned, swiveling his legs woodenly off of the cot.

"Careful!" the man said, reaching out to support Josh as he almost fell.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Josh smiled, but it was brittle, "Where are we? And you look familiar, have I seen you?"

"Well…" the man frowned, "I think it would be best if you came with me."

"Where?" Josh asked, beginning to pull away, but realizing quickly if he did he would fall.

"I couldn't really tell you; it's at the back of the cave, and believe you me, you're going to want to see it!" the man smiled, supporting Josh and patiently guiding him to the back of the cave.

They reached a steep descent into inky blackness, the only route down the massive cavern a small set of very unreliable-looking stone stairs.

The man frowned, eyebrows raised; "Maybe we should hold off on the-"

"No." Josh cut him off, throwing his weight so that the man was forced to continue down the steps.

"Have it your way." he muttered, as he guided Josh.

They reached a torch-lit hallway, with crude stone carvings on the wall and a long winding path of stone bricks; clearly man-made, but very worn.

Josh pulled away from the other man, keeping his hand on the wall for support.

They came to a huge stone room, about the size of the inside of the super-dome, at the center of which there was a stone statue of Obelisk the Tormentor.

Around the room, several clearly recognizable duel monsters hovered, watching him. Then he recognized the one that had helped him.

"You're the Gambler of Legend!"

The Duel Monster smiled, giving a small bow and tipping his hat.

"Guilty as charged."

-LineBreak-

Nathan Greene leaned sat down at the Cafe, across from his associate and enemy, Sigma.

"You called me, boss?"

Sigma was tall, with severe features and eyes like a hawk.

"You remember how you got your card?"

Nathan immediately knew which card he meant, "I took it from a punk who challenged me without knowing who I was or how I could duel."

"Well, someone is looking to take it back, he's here now, in the city, and you need to take care of him."

"I can handle it…without using Raviel, even."

Sigma shook his head, his expression bland, "You mustn't underestimate this one, he carries a card of similar powers to our own, possibly stronger."

Nathan's eyes widened, and a crooked smile played across his lips.

"That sounds fun."

"You can keep the spoils, if you like." Sigma replied, waving his hand in a disinterested manner.

Nathan's grin widened, and his face sharpened, becoming feral and altogether inhuman.

"That sounds _very_ fun."

END OF CHAPTER…5?

That moved faster than I thought it would.

-VictoDuelist

97


	6. Chapter 6

Well, that's it, it's happened, Nergal's killed everyone…what? Oh, hello, its you again! Interested to see what happens next? I don't know why, personally I think the writing is trash and the story just barely b-, but whatever suits yer fancy, luv.

Chapter 6: Dueling's A Serious Game

Josh's eyes were wide with shock as the crowd of monsters moved in, speaking, (or making unintelligible monster noises) all at once.

The Dark Crusader was angrily demanding that someone tell him where he was, while Madolche Butlerusk was crying in a corner, blubbering on about 'the Queen'.

The Gambler waved his hand for silence, then pointed to Josh.

"This duelist commands the power of the God Ra," the crowd began to mutter at this; one Marshmallon flipped into face-down defense position at the sound of the God's name, "and he was coming to challenge the evil cave-dweller."

A small cheer arose, "His blood from the fall, his god card, and the magical essence of this Shrine have summoned us from our cards, we monsters that were taken from our duelists by the Cave-Dweller. We shall guide him to the entrance of the cave, and return to our card form, and serve him, on the condition that he finds our masters and returns us to them!"

Few of the Duel Monsters protested, and those few were convinced by their fellows to submit.

Josh put a few into his deck, and the rest into his pocket, before continuing on to where the Gambler had told him the door would be. It was made of stone, and almost faultlessly built into the wall; Josh'd never have found it without help.

He opened it, revealing a huge rocky tunnel underground, lit by torches set into the wall at irregular intervals.

He frowned, adjusting his duel-disk one last time before making his way up the steadily rising tunnel.

He heard Gambler's voice, whispering in his ear.

There's kind of a room just ahead, used to be a part of the shrine before the whole thing was buried; the Cave-Dweller sleeps and makes his meals there. This time of day, that's where he'll be.

"Nice and simple." Josh groaned as he pulled himself up past rocky outcroppings and steep holes in the uneven floor of the tunnel.

After about seven minutes, he reached a stone wall, with a a very ragged and rotted wooden door set into it.

He checked his disk again, shuffled his deck, then, when he was sure he was ready, he kicked the door down and activated his disk.

Lore sprang to his feet, tattered coat rustling as his disk clicked into place.

"YOU!" he shouted, pointing at Josh imperiously, "How did you get here?"

Josh smiled as his duel disk spat out five cards, "I'll tell you if you beat me!"

Lore smiled.

"You don't know what kind of mess you're getting into, Ra Master; in these tunnels, the monsters are real, and so is the damage you take!" the bandit declared, as he drew his hand.

Josh took a coin from his belt, wincing at the pull on his shoulder when he reached back. He tossed the coin into the air, calling out heads.

It landed on tails, giving Lore the first turn.

After drawing one card, Lore grinned, then set a monster face-down, as well as two facedown spell or traps (though Josh figured they were traps). Then he ended his turn.

Josh drew, and it was his turn to smile.

"I summon Delta Flyer in attack mode! Then I activate Double Summon to play Axe Dragonute, also in attack mode. I synch them to bring Black Rose dragon to the field, and then activate its effect to destroy all cards on the field!"

Multiple thorny vines shot from Black Rose, impaling the other three cards on the field before it itself vanished.

Lore frowned, preparing to draw a card.

"Not so fast-I'm not done yet!" shouted Josh, as he played another spell from his hand "I activate Monster Reborn to return Black Rose to the field, then I play one card face down, to really end my turn!"

Lore summoned Tour Guide From The Underworld, used its effect to summon a second Tour Guide, then XYZ summoned Chronomaly Crystal Chrononaut. Josh countered with his facedown trap, Bottomless Trap Hole.

Lore grimaced and set two facedown cards.

Josh drew a card, and grinned even wider.

"I play Pot Of Greed!" he drew two more cards.

After a slight pause, he continued his turn summoning troop dragon, and then banishing it to Special Summon Red Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon in defense position. Sure enough, when he declared his attack, Lore activated Mirror Force, destroying Rose Dragon. Josh ended his turn, still smirking; he had an advantage.

Lore drew his card, looked at it, and laughed uproariously, then he activated his face-down spell, Ancient Rule, to bring Serpent Night Dragon to the field, before setting two cards and ending his turn.

Josh rejoined that move by summoning Black Rose from the grave, then summoned Mirage Dragon to the field, switching red eyes to attack and then hitting his opponent for all he was worth.

No traps were activated and the Bandit Duelist was left with 3850 LP.

Then Lore played Dark Hole, and followed up by summoning Pitch Black Warwolf and attacking Josh directly.

Josh drew another card, and smiled. He played his Second Monster reborn, used it on Red Eyes, and use Red Eyes to Summon Dragonic Knight. He attacked, but Lore activated Negate Attack, and so Josh ended his turn.

Lore activated the spell Fires of Doomsday, then tributed his three monsters to set a monster card; it was fairly obvious what card he had summoned.

The Cave-Dweller ended his turn cocky and with good reason.

Then Josh drew the Legendary Gambler. He played it, took a deep breath, and activated new ally's effect.

He flipped a coin once. Heads.

A second time. Heads.

A third. Heads once more; and the Wicked Dreadroot was destroyed!

He used Red Eyes to summon Black Rose, and then, the duel was over.

The Bandit Duelist was thrown far back by the direct attacks, hitting the far wall with a surprisingly high-pitched cry.

"Alright." Josh said, as he returned his cards to his deck, "Give me Dreadroot."

Lore's only reply was a groan of pain.

Josh moved over to his enemy.

"Listen, punk, you attacked me, in a cowardly way, I won in a fair match, pretty quickly, I might add, so, you know, give up the card and I'm out of here."

Lore began to laugh, getting to his feet.

"The monsters here, are really real," he paused to groan once more, "but, we don't really have to duel, do we?"

Josh crossed his arms and frowned, "What?"

Lore jumped to his feet, drew a card from his duel disk, and played it. It was a Zure, Knight of Dark World, monster, and it charged Josh, sword swinging.

Josh dodged to the left, tripping over a bit of rock and sliding along the ground for a few moments, but those few moments were all it took for Zure to be standing over him, sword upraised.

He rolled to the left, got up on one knee, drew a card, and summoned it. It was an Axe Dragonute, so it was stronger than Zure, but it seemed that outside of duel rules the fight was a bit less simple than that.

Didn't matter, he drew another card. It was Mage Power. He equipped it to Dragonute, then drew two more cards, bringing Alexandrite Dragon to the field and setting another spell.

Lore ran from the cave even as his monster was destroyed defending him.

Josh ran in pursuit of the bandit, his monsters returning to his deck once the battle ended.

As he exited the tunnel and rounded a corner, he was hit full on in the head with something hard, and he lost consciousness before he even hit the ground.

End of Chapter 6.

And Thus, the story progresseth!

-VictorDuelist97


	7. Chapter 7

7, hey, that's my lucky number…sometimes…

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7: Hunting The Bandit

Josh opened his eyes, black spots dancing in front of his vision. He was still in the cave, in fact, since hitting the ground, he hadn't been moved. He still had all his cards (which was lucky, since Lore was a thief and all).

He sat up, eyes swimming even in the dim torchlight. What a coward.

Making his way out of the tunnel, he groaned, the sun was even worse.

After making the ridiculously long walk back to his room. He showered, napped, watched some TV for a while, then called the number that Rex had left with him.

"Hello?" definitely him.

"Hi."

"Oh, Josh, its you. How'd the duel go."

"I won…"

"That's great!"

"Oh well…yes. He hit me over the head and ran away."

"What?!"

"Yes."

"Okay…I have a friend in the Intelligence Sector of I2's American Branch, he owes me one, I'll have him put a tracker out on the Dreadroot card, no biggie, I should have something in a couple of days; do you mind staying put for now?

"No problem."

"Great, I'll get back to you."

After Rex hung up, Josh closed his eyes, swearing quietly for a few moments before heading out to see what the small town had to offer.

-LineBreak-

"Where are they?" Dex leaned over the prone form of the Sigma lackey, holding the duelist/thug's best card over his head.

"I swear to god I will sell this on Ebay if you don't tell me where the hell your bosses are!"

"One of them visits the Tour Eiffel every day, at around five or six, you can't miss him, he has a disk that's shaped like a battle-axe!"

"Great, thank you."

Dex dropped the card, turned, and walked away.

-LineBreak-

"So you told him where to go?"

"Yes sir, exactly the times and place you said."

"Great, I can't wait to see what Kaiba Corp sent after me; he's gonna have to be really good."

"Yes sir."

"Okay, go back to the HQ, as promised your bonus and the 7 newest packs, all pre-releases from I2."

"Thank you, sir."

-LineBreak-

Josh watched the bus roll out of town.

"I should be on that." he muttered to himself.

"Why aren't you, then?" a voice piped up from behind him.

He turned, a girl, about his age, with a disk on her arm, was standing behind him, smiling.

He recognized her from somewhere, he wasn't sure where.

"Um. No reason I guess…waiting on a call."

"Do you not have a cellphone?" she smirked.

"Oh, no. If I left, and I got the call I'm hoping I get, I'll have to come right back, so…"

"Hm. Okay. My name is Lily, nice to meet you."

"Josh," he stood, extending a hand, "nice to meetcha."

She smiled, "I know who you are, Mr. Greene, one of the best duelists in this era."

"Oh, that's sweet to hear."

"Not really, you're totally a target, for anyone who wants to climb the ladder."

Josh rolled his eyes, "And you just so happen to be one of those climbers?"

"Nope, I work for Sigma."

He spluttered, took a step back, and activated his disk.

She laughed, tossing her hair, "Don't worry, you're fine, I'm here to give you a message; 'Sigma, or any of its allies, are to be left alone by Kaiba Corp, or all of your lives are forfeit, forget dueling."

Josh's eyes widened. "Okay…um no. Suck it. Throw what you want my way."

She smiled, but it was different, he felt a chill run down his spine.

"I could duel you right here and now…you wouldn't like it, I don't think."

Josh stepped out into the more or less empty street, "Let's see, then."

"Fine. Ladies first." she set, stepping out and drawing six cards.

"Let's get started!" she shouted, "I set one monster in facedown defense position, I play pot of greed, draw two cards, and end my turn!"

Josh drew a card, looked at his hand, and smiled.

"I play Future Fusion, using its ability to send five dragon monsters from my main deck to my grave, so that in two turns, I can bring Five Headed Dragon to the field, but in the meantime, I bring Divine Dragon Ragnarok to the field, and equip him with Mage Power. I also set two cards face down and attack your facedown card!"

"Which sucks for you!" she said, revealing her monster, Yomi Ship. "My monster's effect destroys yours!"

"Please," Josh countered, "I've been dueling for years now, you think I couldn't see something like that coming? Your effect activates the effect of the Dragonic Knight in my hand, bringing it to the field in face up attack position; now, I attack your LifePoints directly!"

The huge armored dragon lunged forward. slashing its illusory blade across the other duelist. Her LifePoints dropped to 5200.

"That's not all, I move to my second main phase and activate United We Stand, from my hand, bringing my monster's attack power up to 3600!"

She tossed her hair, sneering uglily, "Not a bad move, punk. Unfortunately, things aren't so good for you! I play White Magician Pikeru, then Double Summon, then I tribute my first monster to bring Dark Dust Spirit to the field, which destroys your monster and its annoying equip spell! Then I attack your life points!"

"Not so fast, I activate Draining Shield, so your attack raises my LP instead of knocking it down!"

She snarled more, ended her turn, and returned the Dark Dust Spirit to her hand, as per its effect.

He drew another card. "Great! I play Pot of Greed and draw two cards! Then I summon Poki Draco, use its effect to put another one in my hand, then I banish the one on my field to summon Red-Eyes Darkness Metal Dragon! I use effect to summon Luster Dragon #2, then I activate Meteor of Destruction!"

She groaned.

"Now I attack your LifePoints directly!"

Her counter dropped to 0.

"I thought you were supposed to be the big, bad hit-girl from Sigma?" he asked, giving her a cocky thumbs-down.

"I am." she said, pulling a revolver from under her denim jacket.

End of Chapter 7!

Haha I like this one; as to the end of the chapter, you would not believe how many times that has happened to me!

-VictorDuelist97


	8. Chapter 8

Short chapter.

Chapter 8:

Dex punched the door, and, once again, the only effect was a pain in his knuckles.

Slifer, from deep within his mind, called out, "You really need to stop. We fell into an obvious trap, now we're stuck in some cellar somewhere; you still have your disk and your cards, so the key here is the element of surprise, when they open the door, lunge at them, try to break away…I may have just enough Power left to boost your senses and keep you from doing something stupid."

"Sounds like a plan." Dex said grudgingly, leaning hard against one of the stone walls and sliding into a crouch.

"I wonder if the Masked Duelist is looking for us?"

"Hopefully."

-LineBreak-

Josh wondered how things had taken this turn. The crazy vaguely-familiar assassin girl had been apprehended by authorities, and he had, in a fit of insight, run the hell away from the small town on the next bus; hoping to head home. Unfortunately, he had fallen asleep, while the bus was going in the wrong direction, and he was now in the small town of god-knows-where (with a swamp) Louisiana.

He had a shuttle ticket, but it wasn't going to leave for a few days, and he was something of a local dueling celebrity; not a good thing, as he had been challenged nine times in the day he had been there.

He was getting tired, even as he finished off (yet another) HERO user, and wondered if maybe he should grab a motel room for the day. His phone rang. He declared a direct attack on the unfortunate duelist with two Blue-Eyes and Galaxy Eyes, ending the duel, then turned, walking away as he answered the call.

It was Rex, "I heard about the Sigma Agent, you were smart to move; your hotel room was broken into not long after you left. That said, you should have given me a call. Also, what foreign languages do you know?"

"Italian, French, Spanish, and German; I was planning a trip to europe in a few years…"

"Well, how about moving that up to say, tomorrow?"

"What happened?"

"I'm not sure how to put this…we have someone, similar to you, who uses Slifer, and we sent him to Paris. We think he was caught by Sigma."

Josh stopped walking, "Get me a ride to an airport, and I'll be there ASAP."

-LineBreak-

THERE WAS A PLANE CRASH, JOSH DIES, AND DEX IS KILLED ESCAPING, ATEM ISNT REVIVED, AND SIGMA TAKES OVER THE WORLD

Hahah, JK, sorry for the short chapter but I have some school stuff to take care of and It'll be a while.

-VictorDuelist


	9. Chapter 9

RIGHT So, I wrote 30 Chapters of this Since I last saw you guys: Idiocy caused it to vanish; I am not starting over: I will do 'lost chapters' thing later on, but y'all will just have to keep up. Sorry for the shortness, but…whatever: worst summer ever, bad first few weeks of school, too!

CHAPTER 38:

"What the hell are we gonna do, Josh?" Cameron, the Ex-Sigma Warrior duelist who now possessed Dreadroot, asked, as the nine of them stood at the Heavenly Gate.

"We've got to bust down the gate somehow: the guardian is waiting on the other side, and he still has Sarah hostage!" Rex replied (he had since abandoned his mask, chapter 25-ish, as I recall).

The Guardians Of The Gods, as they had named themselves, led by Josh/Ra, had spent the last two months preparing to continue their quest and enter the spirit world, but something horrible had happened. An organization calling itself Sigma-Superior appeared, apparently taking orders from the Guardian of Death: they had magically abducted the one person who each hold most dear.

Henri, the old man who was master of Uriel, stepped forward.

"The cards are strong here…monsters that we summon could break this gate down."

Josh stepped forward, left eye still bandaged from where his brother had removed it, right before jumping in front of a train back in Paris.

"Fine then, I summon Luster Dragon to the field!" he declared, as his duel-disk clicked into place.

The each called out a monster.

"All right, everyone," Dex began, "Attack the Gates!"

Nine monsters of average strength attacked the gate, but were repulsed by an invisible field of energy.

"We need to pull out…the Gods." Henri said, holding up Uriel in card form.

Here's a list of the Guardians:

Ra: Josh

Slifer: Dex

Obelisk: Solace

Avatar: Lytar

Dreadroot: Cameron

Eraser: Rex

Hamon: Raiko

Uriel: Henri

Raviel: Shaun


End file.
